A cities photography tour to include Fes, Meknes, Volubilis & Chefchaouen. Ideal for returning guests, its main theme is street photography in the medinas of the imperial cities as well as more abstract compositions in the ‘blue city’ of Chefchaouen.
Photography travel tours | Morocco’s northern jewels
Geared for street photography, the feel of the northern cities is distinctive. Nothing entirely sets you up for Fes. The world’s exclusive in place medieval city, an overflowing warren of obscured back streets and Fondouks. Close-by is Meknes, another old supreme city, it’s non-touristic medina combined with the warmth of it’s residents lends itself to single figures and portraits. Hidden deep in northwestern Morocco set against the dramatic backdrop of the Rif Mountains is Chefchaouen, where despite its recent popularity, abstract ICM and street imagery can be found away from the crowds.
Colour
Spectacle
Street
The north is different
Fes has a big, beautiful medina – it’s a large, traffic-free bazaar, with narrow steeping passageways. Arriving here feels like arriving in another world; it’s sights, smells and sounds of the market, the old city and its historic walls. Meknes is cool grand, open and more a mix of the old Morocco and the new but with some historic gems and a Jewish quarter Mellah that’s worth exploring. Chefchaouen appeals to so many people due to it uniqueness. With a central fortress and square it feels very Spanish.
The week’s plan
The main mix for this trip is between architectural and street scenes, but we’ll also cover some landscape between places and it’s especially green in the mountains during spring. There are no family introductions for this tour but portraits are possible particularly in Meknes. We cover about 1800km but you’re not traveling each day. The big journeys are on day 1 and day 8. Bring your laptops and plenty of cards as you’ll be shooting a lot in the street domain with evening time set aside for reviewing.
The places you’ll visit
For the 8 night tour, our first day is a drive from Marrakesh to Fez for a 2 night stopover, which gives us 1.5 days of photography there. Then it’s further north, about a 3.5 hour drive to Chefchaouen and 2 nights there exploring the blue city. Our next location is back down to Volubilis and then onto Meknes for 2 nights which gives us one full day of street photography in the wonderful medina backstreets. At the end there is a day set aside in Marrakesh for final reviews.
Photography tours for your portfolio
The range of genres you’ll be photographing is varied. There’s some tripod work to be done at the Cascades de Ouzoud and Roman ruins of Volubilis where you’ll have time to pick out some compositions. Chefchaouen is all about street work in a relaxed location. Fez and Meknes are a mixture of street photography and architectural imagery. There are characters in Fes selling goods who you can approach for portraits. As per usual the tour is primarily about building a portfolio of great images for personal or competition use. We’ve recently had photographers with a picture agency remit. Take a look here for the 2020 tour galleries courtesy of Anne and Kaye.
Imperial medinas
The walled in cities of Meknes and particularly Fez are a joy to wander. Meknes has Bou Inania Madrasa (school) and Fez Bou Inania Medersa, which you can enter and as well as Zaouia Moulay Idriss II. There are also views over Fes from the nearby hillside at dusk. These photography travel tours also include the tanneries of course, another major photographic opportunity.
Islamic motifs
Morocco’s great architecture resides in the Imperial cities of the north. Fes is home the King’s Palace, Dar El-Makhzen of Fez, the big door which you can photograph. Also there is the Islamic craft and artisanal work to the exteriors of Moulay Idriss Mausoleum, Al-Attarine Madrasa and qarawiyyin mosque library as well as numerous entrances, most notably Bab Boujloud.
Blue city | columns
Chefchaouen, situated in the Rif mountains, is the furthest north we visit. The heavily painted walls and doors, believed to be blue to reflect the spiritual life up in the heavens, can best be recorded in the early morning light. Our visit to Volubilis takes no more than 1 hour to explore with the stonework comes to light in the late afternoon light.
Historical sites
Islamic Arches
Architecture
Your accommodation
All the hotels on the tour are 3 star Riads with air conditioning. There’s no room sharing or supplement coming as a single person – you’ll have your own en-suite private bathroom. Evening dining is regional cuisine. Alcohol is available at 2 of the hotels on this tour. All the hotels can cater for vegetarians and vegan diets. The hotels we use are as follows: Riad Ahlam in Fez, Hotel Alkhalifa in Chefchaouen and Riad Lahboul in Meknes. As per usual the websites aren’t always as good as the product, particularly Riad Ahlam which is a splendidly renovated Riad with high quality rooms. The Imperial city quality of rooms we stay in the north are typically of a high standard.
Join a group and reserve your place
The photography travel tours to the northern cities tour is scheduled for March and November each year. The tour will be led by myself starting in Marrakesh. Transportation will be in an SUV with the group size limited to 4 or in a transporter for 6 persons. The price is £2575 for 8 nights which includes accommodation and all meals. Enquire for a price on couples sharing a room.
A review of this tour from March 2017 – “Morocco – Northern Cities”
“Having been out with Darren on three previous trips, I knew we would be seeing some excellent photographic sites and we were not disappointed!..there was a lot of travelling involved but the compensation was seeing the rolling hills and thousands of hectares of fertile valleys – so different from the stony deserts further south. There was plenty of opportunity for street photography but also for architecture and landscape. Our favourite was Chefchaouen, the blue city, where the architecture was so different and unique that you could not fail to take some brilliant images. The people there are so friendly too. We were accommodated in traditional Riads which were very good and also provided excellent catering. Being only three hours and ten minutes from Gatwick, this is a fabulous way of getting exposure to a vastly different culture and amazing photographic opportunities”. Peter Wyles.